Embezzler's debt doesn't stop her from collecting state job perks

Candace Wanzo was trusted when she worked in the financial office at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and repaid that trust by stealing $233,500 by writing phony checks to herself from the state university.

A federal judge trusted her to repay the money. She didn't go to the federal pen.

Then in 1999 the Illinois Secretary of State's office trusted her to supervise a specialty license plate office. She was suspended for allegations of wrongdoing there and spent the past 14 months on paid leave.

No word about charges resulting from the 14-month probe.

Wanzo, 54, of Centralia, was paid $101,892 in salary for sitting home. She drew her last paycheck May 31 and it included $21,000 for unused sick time and vacation. She now is eligible for her state pension.

So what about her debt to the state from 25 years ago when she stole from SIUE? A year ago she'd only repaid $89,111 and still owed $144,280.

She twice filed for bankruptcy after the embezzlement conviction and twice tried to get a federal bankruptcy judge to let her out of the debt to SIUE. The second time yielded an agreement that she repay the stolen money at a rate of $416 a month.

Yup, she was trusted to repay. She was behind.

So has she caught up? SIUE's new associate general counsel was unaware of the case, but very interested in Wanzo's recent cash payout from the state.

We trust that a big chunk of the debt could be repaid soon, or at least that it should be.

This story was originally published June 19, 2018 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Embezzler's debt doesn't stop her from collecting state job perks."